Plasmid-encoded resistance to macrolides and lincosamides in Staphylococcus hyicus.

A small plasmid of 2.35 kb, isolated from a porcine Staphylococcus hyicus-culture, was found to be responsible for constitutive resistance to macrolide/lincosamide antibiotics. This plasmid-encoded property could be established by interspecific transformation experiments. The plasmid from porcine Staph. hyicus was designated as pSE2. It differed on the basis of its restriction map from the macrolid/lincosamid resistance (MLR-)-plasmids of other staphylococcal species from infections of humans. Furthermore, the pSE2 plasmid encoded two proteins of approximately 20.5 and 30 kDa.